Powerhouse Powell leads win
By Daily Bruin Staff
Sept. 27, 2006 9:00 p.m.
The men’s water polo team wrapped up its non-conference
schedule on a strong note last Friday night ““ fifteen strong
notes, in fact.
In their last action before Mountain Pacific conference play
begins this weekend, the Bruins routed UC Irvine, 15-4, at Anteater
Pool in Irvine. Senior attacker Logan Powell led UCLA with a
career-high five goals.
The Bruins dominated the Anteaters throughout the game, scoring
four unanswered goals in the first quarter and leading 8-1 at the
half. Coach Adam Krikorian credited the Bruins’ defensive
play with frustrating UCI’s offense and keeping UCLA in
control of the game.
“Overall, we were just very sharp,” Krikorian said.
“We did a great job guarding their best players and having
our guys in the right places to keep them from scoring. It all
comes down to execution, and we did a good job of that.”
Four of Powell’s goals came in the first half, and he only
missed one shot in the game. When asked about his career day,
Powell acknowledged the play of the team as a whole.
“I just had a lot more opportunities this game than
I’ve had the last couple of games,” Powell said.
“(Coach Krikorian) gives me the green light to shoot and my
shots just kept falling. Everything was just going well, for both
me and the team.”
Krikorian expressed similar sentiments. Although he applauded
Powell’s senior leadership, he does not believe Powell needs
to dominate offensively for the Bruins to be successful.
“We have a number of different guys like Logan, all of
whom are capable of scoring four or five goals in any given
game,” he said. “So there’s no real pressure on
him or anyone else to be our go-to player. This game, Logan was in
the right places at the right times, and his shots were
falling.”
Sophomore attacker Krsto Sbutega matched his season high with
four goals for the Bruins. Justin Johnson and Kevin Kuga scored two
goals apiece, while Grant Zider and Cameron Smith each scored one.
Senior goalie Will Didinger made six saves, and UCLA improved to
4-0 in games in which Didinger has played.
The third-ranked Bruins open their MPSF schedule this Saturday
against Stanford at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center.
Although Powell doesn’t anticipate a repeat of Friday
night’s individual offensive performance, he does expect the
same level of intensity from his team.
“We’re going to just play our game, keep the defense
tight, and try and push the tempo as much as possible,”
Powell said. “After that, it just comes down to executing in
front of the cage.”
